It's not just the number of promising young lawmakers and other new leaders elected Tuesday that is encouraging for the future of this country. It's also the apparent quality of them.

From the U.S. Senate to the U.S. House to hundreds of state offices across the country, it does appear as if, as Kennedy said in his inaugural address, "the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans."

Perhaps more interesting than the rates at which this demographic turned out is who they turned out for. Young voters resisted the Republican "wave." In fact, this was the only age demographic that Republicans did not win. And although they maintain their allegiance to Democrats (even without President Obama on the ballot - an erroneous distinction made by many pundits when predicting young voter enthusiasm) many in the youth community feel that the youth vote opportunity was not maximized by either party. According to Smith,"Candidates in both parties failed to really engage young people in their races. Republicans failed to attract increased numbers of young voters, and it could have been a very different outcome for Democrats had their candidates implemented the lessons from 2008's winning playbook."